Charon watched us disembark.
“I would say that I’ll see you soon, but I know that I won’t.” He shoved away from shore and rowed in the opposite direction without looking back.
“Well, he’s pleasant,” Aphrodite remarked. Hecate smiled.
“He has an unpleasant job,” she pointed out. “You most likely wouldn’t feel very pleasant about it, either.”
Aphrodite eyed the massive wall that loomed in front of us.
“As if our task is a ray of sunshine,” she muttered.
“No,” Hecate agreed. “It certainly is not.” She squared her shoulders and glanced at me. “Ready?”
I nodded, reaching back to grasp Cadmus’ hand again. He was, as always, my pillar of strength.
We marched quickly and without hesitation to the large, heavy gates. Mist rose from the ground, giving the land an ethereal glow. Wispy fingers of fog spiraled into the sky and dissipated as we pushed through them. As we drew closer to the gateway, I made out the black three-headed form of Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld. Everyone knew… his job was to let souls in, but not to let them out. I gulped.
Hecate walked straight to him and petted the head in front of her. He lowered it so that she could access it better and she scratched him behind the ears.
“Ah, old friend,” she laughed. “It is good to see you.” She pulled a piece of jerky from her pocket and tossed it into the air. All three heads attempted to snap it up, ultimately causing them each to miss it.
Ortrera bent to retrieve it but when her fingers brushed it, Cerberus growled menacingly. He was the size of a large bull with three inch long razor sharp teeth. When he growled, the world listened.
My sister froze, then straightened, kicking the piece of jerky to him with her foot. He snapped it into his jaws and swallowed it without chewing. Hecate patted his stout side, seemingly unafraid.
“Cerberus, my friends and I need to enter. Will you stand aside and allow it?”
The massive beast cocked his heads and stared at her.
She nodded.
“Yes, I understand. We’ll deal with Hades at that point.”
Cerberus cocked his heads in the other direction and paused, apparently contemplating.
I looked at Hecate. “You can communicate with animals?”
“Only dogs,” she explained. “And only because my familiar is a dog.” She switched her attention back to Cerberus. “Well?”
He heaved a massive sigh and stepped to the side, his enormous jowls rippling as he breathed. His large eyes rolled over each of us, but he remained still.
Hecate motioned for us to enter, so I cautiously walked past the menacing dog and into the Underworld.
“He is concerned for us,” she stated calmly, answering the unspoken question that we all had. “He knows that he is under orders to not let us leave. He doesn’t want us to be trapped here.”
“Us or you?” Ares asked with a small grin. “I think he wanted the rest of us for his lunch.”
Hecate smiled. “He and I have known each other a long time. He is concerned for me. Since I am here with you, I cannot come and go as I normally do—at my will. The rules have changed for me.”
I hadn’t realized that and it brought my head up with a start.
“Well, then, I thank you for coming, Hecate. I didn’t know that this was a risk for you.”
She leveled an ice blue gaze at me. “It’s a risk for us all, Chosen One.”
A chill ran down my spine at the reminder.
“Now, then,” Hecate said briskly. “You all know of the Underworld. You know the main rule. Hades protects his population fiercely. He doesn’t enjoy losing numbers. We shall have to think on how we will leave. Generally, in order to leave this place, one must offer someone else in his stead. We shall have to think of a way around that, so keep that in mind as we travel. Are you ready? We will need to pass through the room of judgment first.”
“The room of judgment?” I repeated in confusion. “But we aren’t dead. Why must we be judged?”
She shrugged her thin shoulders.
“It is just the way it must be. No one can enter the Underworld without being judged. I have entered here thousands of times and each time, I have been judged. You will be judged in many different aspects- in relation to those who accompany you, in relation to the world in general and with regard to your own superfluous acts.”
“And then what?”
She gave me a droll look. “Then you may enter.”
I examined the terrain in front of us. The Underworld was actually fairly beautiful thus far. It reminded me of the Scottish Highlands. Craggy, severe hills stretched as far as I could see. Green and brown grasses waved with a crisp breeze, yellow wildflowers dotted the hillside. Muted light shone on us from an unseen source, which was strange. The Underworld was subterranean. The sun couldn’t reach here, yet there was still light. I had to attribute it to magic. There was no other plausible explanation.
My mother approached me, reaching out to grasp my hand. She was calm and lovely, no evidence whatsoever that she was unnerved by our situation.
“Harmonia, there are several levels to the Underworld. Do you remember what they are?”
I wracked my brain. It was frustrating not to have full use of my memory yet. The Fates’ spells were still binding and once again, I silently cursed them.
“No,” I answered with slumped shoulders.
“Don’t despair, sweetling,” she patted my arm. “It will all come back to you after we restore Zeus. For now, let me tell you about the Underworld.”
She gestured in front of us with a broad, sweeping motion.
“These are the Plains of Judgment. Nothing really resides in them. They will stretch on for miles and miles until the Lethe River. After that, we will come to the Fields of Asphodel in Erebus, which is where the neither good nor bad dwell. It is a place for the souls who did not have a spectacular life whatsoever. They did nothing of any real consequence. Hades Palace is there in that most neutral of places.
“Then, the Underworld will split into two vast directions. On one side, we will find Tartara, which is where the damned are imprisoned. On the other, we will find the Isles of the Blessed. It is a paradise, but to reach it, we would have to cross thousands of miles of oceans. And that, my dear, is your geography lesson for the day.”
She grinned and I shook my head.
“Thanks.”
Hecate interrupted solemnly. “There is one other main rule that you must keep in mind here- the most important. Do not eat anything in the Underworld or you will be condemned to stay. Remember Persephone.”
Visions of the beautiful queen of the Underworld filled my mind for the first time in many years. I hadn’t had cause to remember her until now.
The beautiful goddess was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. Hades had cast his eye upon her long ago and desperately wanted her for his bride. He abducted her from Olympus and her mother had been so distraught that she had caused devastating droughts throughout the world. After so much mortal suffering, Zeus finally interfered and demanded that Hades return Persephone, but in the meantime, Hades had tricked her into eating Pomegranate seeds… condemning her to a life in the Underworld. Zeus once again interfered and negotiated a deal. Persephone would remain as Hades’ bride, but she was free to leave for six months of the year to return to Olympus to visit her mother.
Some say that Persephone wasn’t tricked at all…that she knew when she ate the seeds that she was binding herself to stay, that she did it because she had come to love the dark lord of the Underworld. No one knew for sure, but to all appearances, that did appear to be true to some extent. There were many years when Persephone did not stay in Olympus for the entire six months. She stayed for a matter of weeks before returning to her husband and his subterranean kingdom.
“So,” Hecate continued, drawing my attention back to her. “Do not eat anything, no matter how hungry you become. You may drink, but no eat
ing.”
We all nodded our assent, as if we would do anything but. No one wished to be trapped here.
Ortrera examined the rolling landscape hawkishly before turning back to face the group.
“Where will we be judged? I do not see anything for miles.”
“The judgment room will appear to us,” Hecate said confidently. “We simply have to start walking.”
“Which way?” Ares asked as he gazed across the horizon.
“It doesn’t matter,” Hecate answered. “Any direction will do.”
So we set off. Hecate and Ares walked in the lead, followed by Cadmus, Aphrodite and me and the Amazons brought up the rear, cautiously flanking us.
“Oh, Harmonia?” Hecate called over her shoulder.
“Yes?” I answered quickly.
“There’s one more thing. The magic of the gods is rendered impotent here. I thought you should know.”
I shook my head wryly. “Yes, that is certainly good to know.”
I took another step and almost ran smack into a brick building that was emerging abruptly from the ground. I stopped short and gaped at it with my mouth open. Cadmus grabbed my arm and pulled me backward and we stood together and watched it in amazement.
It rumbled to a stop after a few seconds and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was as though it had been there all along. The soil had settled back down around the foundation of the building as though it had never been disturbed.
The building itself was heavy and old, built from thick stone slabs and covered in green moss. It was tall, wide and formidable with a thick wooden door right in the middle. I lifted my hand and rested it on the brass door-handle.
“Should we go in?” I asked tentatively.
“Well, of course,” Hecate replied. “What else would we do?”
She sidled confidently past me and opened the door, gesturing for us to enter. Ares went first, followed by the rest of the group.
“Well?” Hecate asked me with a raised eyebrow. I gulped and stepped inside, holding my husband’s arm.
We were in a large darkened room with no windows. As my eyes grew accustomed to the dark, I made out several figures in the back, seated behind a table. Three people. They watched us intently as they waited for us to approach.
“Come closer,” a gravelly voice instructed. “You must approach and be judged.”
Cadmus wrapped his arm around my waist and whispered in my ear.
“It will be fine, my love. I promise.”
A low laugh rumbled from behind the table and as we approached, I saw that it came from the man in the middle. There were three, all in long gray cloaks. The man in the middle laughed humorlessly again.
“You are fortunate,” he pointed out, his gaze fastened to me. “Because you are here in a pack. Most face death alone.” He stroked his long gray beard with gnarled fingers. “But you are not dead. This is most interesting. Hecate, why have you brought visitors?”